NYON, Switzerland — The Serbian soccer federation has faced disciplinary action from UEFA due to racist behavior exhibited by fans during two Nations League matches, including an incident involving an attempt to set fire to an Albanian flag in Switzerland.

This ruling was revealed on Friday, coinciding with the announcement from FIFA that Serbia and Albania will be competing in the same group for the 2026 World Cup qualifying rounds, which means they will confront each other in two matches, both home and away.
Additionally, UEFA’s executive committee is expected to confirm that Serbia and Albania will jointly host the Under-21 European Championship in 2027 during their meeting on Monday.
During a recent match between Switzerland and Serbia, fans from Serbia were recorded trying to ignite an Albanian flag. The Swiss national team often features players who have familial connections to Albania or Kosovo, a region that declared independence from Serbia back in 2008.
UEFA announced that the Serbian federation has been charged with “racist and/or discriminatory behavior” both during the match in Switzerland on November 15 and during a subsequent home game against Denmark, along with other offenses that included the display of an “illicit banner.”
As a result of these violations, Serbia’s federation has been banned from selling tickets for its next two away matches in UEFA competitions, and will also be required to restrict access to portions of its stadium during two home fixtures.
The enforcement of these sanctions will commence in March when Serbia competes against Austria in a two-legged Nations League promotion playoff.
In addition to the ticket sales ban, UEFA has levied fines totaling 173,000 euros (approximately $181,000), which includes a penalty of 90,000 euros ($94,000) specifically for the discriminatory actions.
This isn’t the first time Serbia’s soccer federation has come under scrutiny, as it has faced charges from both UEFA and FIFA for recurrent fan misconduct, including incidents during Euro 2024 in Germany and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The matches between Serbia and Albania in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers will be the first encounters since their last meeting in a Euro 2016 qualifying group. Their October 2014 matchup in Belgrade ended in chaos when a fan outside the stadium caused disruption by flying a drone that carried an Albanian nationalist banner over the field.